Sorters of the shifting bin type have been developed to conserve space by enabling the bins to be closed when not receiving sheets but open to facilitate entry of sheets.
In my prior patent 4,343,463 there is disclosed a shifting bin sorter which moves the bins, by means of spiral cams, between positions above and below the cams during sorting operations. In my prior patent 4,337,936 a larger number of bins are moved by spiral cams at the inlet to the bins and a screw shaft at the distal ends of the bins to minimize angle of the bin trays. In Du Bois and Hamma 4,397,401, the bins are shifted at their distal ends, to minimize angle by a cam arm raised and lowered beneath the distal ends of the bins.
These sorters in which the outer or distal ends of the trays are vertically moved allow the sorter to have a large number of sheets. The sorter in the Du Bois and Hamma application also opens the distal ends of the bins by means of cam tray ends like those disclosed in patent 4,332,377 and the sheets can be removed endwise from the trays.